


Magic Well Received

by PGT



Category: Camp Camp (Web Series)
Genre: Fluff and Angst, LARP, S2 Finale Spoilers, it's hardly angst but like, so many dnd references
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-08-27
Updated: 2017-08-27
Packaged: 2018-12-20 10:57:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,227
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11919468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PGT/pseuds/PGT
Summary: Harrison’s Parents are keeping a distance, and both the Elder One and Nerris the Cute can only complete their quest with the help of an illusionist.





	Magic Well Received

**Author's Note:**

> Spoilers for s2 finale, obviously.  
> Loyle-trash on tumblr, feel free to send a request if you like my work!

 

 

Harrison loved his parents, and he knew he was loved, even if they didn’t show it. He was glad they’d come to parents day, even if they preferred to keep their distance and talk with the counselors instead of him.

It was okay, he understood that they were scared. He was fine to sit by Preston’s stage and watch Nerris wave her foam sword alongside her father. It didn’t sting to see her magic (fake as it was) so accepted. Really.

Flourishing his own hockey stick, Nerris’ father made eye contact with Harrison, and he brandished a smile. His posture relaxed and with a hand on her head Nerris broke character too, seeing their spectator for the first time.

“Hello adventurer! Have you ever LARPed before?”

He didn’t start to answer before Nerris scoffed, looking up to her dad with a don't-even-bother expression. “Harrison doesn’t role-play, dad. He’s an,” she raised her sword and made two quotation marks in the air, “ _ illusionist _ .”

“Really?”

“Yeah, dad.”  
He scrunched up his face and seemed to melt into his LARP persona, which Harrison had learned was the wizard human “the Elder One.”

“I remember tale of an untouchable dragon queen, one that could only be approached by those with concealing magics. Do you possess such powers, Illusionist?”

Harrison stared blankly at the man, who now held out his free hand to help Harrison onto the stage. To his side, Nerris puffed out her cheeks but made no move to stop him.

He looked between them and then to the hand. “I can make myself invisible sometimes? It’s kind of a mixed bag, though...”

The Elder One faded away for just a moment, and he whispered. “You don’t have to actually do it if you don’t want to, just pretend if you’d like.”

Harrison took the hand and climbed up.

\---

In the dim radiance of the Elder One’s stafflight, Nerris the Cute watched as her party member pulled a well dressed boy from the under-ground cell he had been locked in. There had been many trap doors in the dark, mountain-carved dungeon, each opening up to an empty cell, but they’d checked each one for treasure.The prisoner was well equipped for someone locked up, gloves and hat shimmering with embued magic, his hat she noticed, a hat of holding, his class was only made clear by his gloves and hat. He was a wizard, but where the Elder One specialized in Conjuration, or Nerris in Evocation, the prisoner’s gloves were a clear sign of illusory magics. She never liked Illusionists, not since one made her brother disappear in her backstory. She expressed her distrust.

“Elder One, he cannot be trusted! Even if the dragon will see us, it is better to risk than having  _ him  _ with us!” She pointed with puffed cheeks, but The Elder One was not swayed. Instead, the tall human man crouched down to eye level with the illusionist with a warm smile.

“What’s your name, Adventurer?”

The stranger removed his hat, brushing it off idly and glancing between the two nervously, unsure at the entire scenario. “My name is… Harrison the… Unfortunate.”

“Welcome, Harrison the Unfortunate! Would you like to join us on our quest? We were just on our way out of this dungeon, but we will soon be on our way to fight the Dragon Queen!”

His eyes were glued to the elf, now.  She wore a blue wizarding hat and a silk robe that the stafflight danced across, but the most apparent thing she wore was a discouraging scowl.

“Is your...” he paused, deciding his words carefully. “Is the elf okay with me coming?”

The Elder One turned, noticing her glare for the first time. His eyes narrowed, not so much as to seem mad, but almost a paternal leadership, despite the human clearly having no blood relation to the elf. “Nerris the Cute, do I need to cast friends?”

She groaned and slacked her arms to the sides, the steel blade of her sword clinking against stone. “No, Elder One...”

“Perfect! Welcome, Harrison the Unfortunate.”

They pressed on, the Elder One and Nerris the Cute retracing old steps while Harrison the Unfortunate trailed behind timidly. The others bantered fluidly, but he was unsure of when to join in even without Nerris the Cute’s constant ever-present glare, so he kept to himself aside from when the Elder One asked questions.

An hour passed before they breached the cave’s natural darkness, and the mouth of the cave became visible. The Elder One doused his stafflight and they headed out excitedly. “There’s a town not far from here, we should resupply before we fight the Dragon Queen, right Harrison?”

He watched as Nerris’ mouth fell agape, mortified she wasn’t the one addressed. “R-right Elder One!”

The town was incredibly close to the cave, only a few minutes away. The town bustled with evening activity. Nerris insisted they go to the inn and rest for the night. “You wouldn’t know this of course, Harrison the Unfortunate, but Dragons have incredible night vision, it would be terrible to fight the Dragon Queen at night!”

She didn’t turn to speak to him, but he couldn’t help appreciating her speaking to him, even if it was a bit rudely. The inn was softly lit and the dining area was slowly filling, not yet full like it would be in the darker hours, but not empty. After sitting at their own table of three, The Elder One left the others, going to the bar to purchase a room and three milks (one strawberry for Nerris the Cute).

They sat silent, watching as he began conversing at the bar.

A minute passed, he wasn’t returning.

Another, they seemed to be having a really great conversation.

“So...” Harrison murmured.

“What do  _ you _ want, Illusionist.” 

Nerris turned to him with narrowed eyes and puffed cheeks, and he couldn’t help the sting it caused.

\---

Harrison found himself sitting at the edge of Preston’s dilapidated stage, Nerris with a paper hat and towel robe next to him, her father in the benches speaking with Counselor Gwen. He looked down to his dangling feet, kicking one up to watch it swing. ”Hey… I’m just trying to play with you guys, why are you making it so hard for me?”

He heard Nerris’s “huh?” to his left but didn’t look up to see the defensive expression. Instead, he elaborated. “Your game is like, super stupid. But at least you have someone that supports you and like, encourages what you’re doing. Do you know how lucky you are?”

His eyes tingled.

“You get to indulge yourself in this fantasy world where you have pointy ears and your dad shoots fireballs or whatever, and it’s dumb, but  _ I _ don’t get to enjoy magic like you do, Nerris. I thought I could enjoy if I just pretended like you do, but you’re just acting like I made your brother disappear or something!”

A drop of water splashed against his swinging shoe, and Harrison wiped at his eyes.

“Harrison...”

He pushed off of the stage, landing in the springy grass. “Tell your dad Harrison the Unfortunate went up to their rooms early or something. I’m gonna go.”

As he padded away, Nerris stood, shoes tapping against the wooden stage. She watched him go, a knot of guilt bubbling in her throat.

  
  



End file.
